Naruto Guardian Of The Mist
by SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan
Summary: Banished as soon as Tsunade is brought back to The Leaf, Naruto is at a loss of what to do. However with Kakashi testing his affinities, Naruto finds he has more power than he ever thought. Watch Naruto's journey as he learns about himself and becomes The Guardian Of The Mist. Ice, lava and boil release Naruto and maybe wood later on. Semi-dark, smart, and strong Naruto. Harem
1. Banishment

**Have no fear SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan is here with a new Naruto fiction. Now firstly, Naruto will have three bloodlines ice, boil and lava. He will be banished from The Leaf Village, but before the Sasuke retrieval arc, meaning as soon as Tsunade returns. The main pairing is Naruto/Mei with a slightly older harem.**

Right now the harem has:  
Mei  
Yugito  
Temari  
Konan  
Fuka

I will listen to suggestions but I need reasons... and more than 'she is hot'. Naruto will become a mist ninja, (which is quite obvious from the title). Also his age is the same as in my first story.  
Naruto 15  
Sasuke 12  
Tenten 13  
Temari 15  
Just to list a few ages.

I don't tend to make author notes unless they are important so for future reference if I make one please read it.

Also I am stating this in advance: don't read this if you can't deal with my quotation marks. I don't want to hear anyone complaining about them as this is how I learnt them. Additionally (you know who you are) if that same petty anonymous reviewer complains or I should said harasses me one more time I will disable anonymous reviews. If you wish to leave reviews and don't have an account I suggest you make one as it isn't really all that hard.

Lastly enjoy the story and review.

SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan 

Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the Naruto anime/manga all I own are my original characters and plot twists.

'Talking'

"Thinking"

'**Heavily demonic voice'**

'**Fox talking' **

"**Fox thinking"**

*expression*

**Jutsu **

_Flashback_

Chapter 1 – Banishment

Naruto was having a terrible day so far. First, he had arrived back to The Leaf Village only to find out he was banished. Secondly, he found out that since Tsunade was not sworn in yet, she couldn't help him out in any way. Thirdly, he found out that he had to leave the village by midnight; tonight.

'I just can't believe this!' shouted Naruto in frustration. Naruto, around the age of fifteen, was walking down the street in a rage glaring at the path in front of him. He had blonde spiky hair, deep blue eyes and three whisker-like marks on each of his cheeks. He wore an orange jumpsuit and was about one metre and a half in height with a small build.

"I do nothing but give my all for this village and what does it do? Throw it in my face and kick me out. Guess it's a good thing I'm leaving, I might finally be able to get some respect." Thought Naruto as he arrived at his lopsided and rundown apartment complex, which only he inhabited.

Naruto let himself in, closing the door behind him, before slumping down onto his frayed brown couch. Naruto sat there thinking about what he was going to do before he heard a knock at his door.

'*Ugh* Who is it?' Groaned Naruto.

'It's Kakashi.' replied a voice.

'*sigh* Come in the door is open.' Said Naruto despondently.

A man wearing a mask and a leaf forehead protector covering his left eye, who was garbed in the standard leaf shinobi outfit along with iron plated gloves entered.

'Hey Naruto, how are you holding up?' asked Kakashi aloof as ever.

'How do you think?' Responded Naruto bitterly.

Kakashi for his part allowed some of his sadness to show indicated by his small sigh.

"Sensei if you could only see what they are doing to your son, you would turn over in your grave." Thought Kakashi.

'Cheer up Naruto you might be getting banished but I've got something here that might raise your spirits.' Said Kakashi as he pulled out three small pieces of paper.

'Paper? Wow.' Said Naruto sarcastically.

'No not just paper, chakra paper.' Said Kakashi with an eye smile.

'What does it do?' Asked Naruto mildly interested.

'Well you know how Sasuke can use fire jutsu and I can use lighting, well among other things?' Questioned Kakashi.

'Yeah.' Replied Naruto.

'Well this will let me know what your affinity is. After all I was going to train you all in your affinities soon but, well with your banishment this can no longer happen.' Said Kakashi with a sheepish chuckle.

'Gee thanks.' Replied Naruto sourly.

'So I figured as a going away present, I would test your affinity and give you a jutsu for that affinity, so you have at least some guidance concerning elemental jutsu before you leave.' Said Kakashi causing Naruto to brighten up.

'Really? Thanks a lot Kakashi-sensei.' Said Naruto happily as he grabbed a piece of paper.

'Now all you have to do is pump some chakra into it and it will reveal your affinity, although if you are lucky you might have two.' Said Kakashi.

Naruto concentrated and focused his chakra into the paper at which point it split into six pieces. One crumbled, one became soaked and another burnt up in a flame. Although that surprised Kakashi, the next few shocked him. One turned into lava and hardened, one dissolved out of existence and the last piece turned into ice.

'So how was that Kakashi-sensei?' Asked Naruto curiously.

'Uh Naruto, you wouldn't mind doing that again would you?' Asked Kakashi as he held out another piece of the chakra paper.

Naruto just shrugged and did it again getting the same result as before.

'Well?' Asked Naruto.

Kakashi snapped out of his stupor and looked at Naruto.

'Well it would seem as though you posses four out of the five basic affinities and have three advanced nature bloodlines lava release, boil release and ice release.' Said Kakashi in mild awe.

'Wow I'm so awesome.' Said Naruto.

'For once, I agree with you Naruto, those natures are all very impressive. With some training you could become a real powerhouse.' Said Kakashi.

At this Naruto's excitement deflated a little.

'But, if I'm being banished, who will train me?' Asked Naruto in sadness.

'Well I did say I would give you a jutsu for your affinities, although for the lava, ice and boil release you will probably have to go to The Mist to find someone to train you.' Said Kakashi.

'Alright thanks a lot.' Said Naruto.

'Oh and Naruto, take care of yourself. I know I didn't teach you much but I do know that you have the guts to never give up and that will take you far.' Said Kakashi with an eye smile before he used a **Body Flicker** and left Naruto to pack.

_-line break-_

Naruto was packed up and ready to leave. He had a small backpack on his back and a few scrolls attached to his pants. As he walked down the street he remembered all the pranks he had pulled. As he passed his favourite ramen stand he started to feel depressed knowing that he will never get to eat there again.

"Oh well nothing I can do now, I'm just going to have to do my best to become the strongest." Thought Naruto as he approached the gate. As he arrived he saw there were five figures waiting for him. Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, Kakashi and Iruka had all come to wish him well.

Jiraiya stepped forward first and gave Naruto three scrolls and a book.

'Naruto those scrolls contain all I know about sealing techniques as well as letter from your parents and I assume, some of their skills which made them famous. I was going to tell you about them when you reached Jounin as I am your godfather, but now that you are banished well. I guess at least now you can learn about your family.' Said Jiraiya solemnly.

Naruto was slightly upset yet, also happy that he found out that Jiraiya was his godfather. He understood that he had lots of important duties as a Sannin and a spymaster and therefore couldn't have been there for him when he was a child. Naruto hugged him and said 'Thanks, godfather.'

Jiraiya hugged him back before letting go.

'Also that book I gave you was my first ever written. Both your parents seemed to like it as they named you after the hero.' Said Jiraiya.

Naruto's eyes glistened with tears as he was overcome with emotion but he didn't let a single tear fall. He nodded as Jiraiya stepped back and Tsunade came forward.

Tsunade knelt down to Naruto's level and gave him a deep hug.

'I know that this village banishing you isn't fair, but all this means is that you have to become a great shinobi to show them what they missed out on. Okay?' Said Tsunade as she stood back up.

'Don't worry, I'll make sure that this village will never forget that they lost; Naruto Uzumaki.' Said Naruto with fire in his eyes.

As Tsunade stepped back Shizune came forward and hugged Naruto as well and gave him a small medical kit.

Iruka then came forward and hugged Naruto as well.

'Naruto make sure you take care of yourself. Okay?' Said Iruka.

Naruto nodded and smiled. Lastly Kakashi came forward with four scrolls.

'Well I did say I would give you a jutsu for each of your affinities but, understandably I have no lava, ice or boil jutsus. Instead I've got a wind, fire, water and earth technique for you.** Wind Style: Great Breakthrough, Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, Water Style: Water Wall and Earth Style: Hidden Mole Jutsu.** The first two are offensive and if you combine them together with your clones, will be very hard to stop. The other two are for defensive purposes.' Said Kakashi as he handed them over.

'Thanks Kakashi-sensei.' Said Naruto.

Naruto put the scrolls in his backpack and with a final wave walked towards the gate and out of the village.

'There goes the truest inheritor of The Will Of Fire.' Said Iruka.

'You're right and this village can't even see it, stupid fools.' Said Jiraiya before he walked away. ****

_-line break-_

In an underground base

_-line break-_

'Well Lord Danzo, when shall we make our move on the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki?' Asked a masked Individual wearing standard ANBU uniform. The only difference was the mask was plain white with no decorations or symbols.

'Soon, first we must let it get a decent distance away from the leaf so as to not draw suspicion to ourselves or the Jinchuuriki.' Said Danzo. Danzo appeared to be a frail, old man. He had black, shaggy hair, and his right eye was bandaged. Danzo also had an x-shaped scar on his chin. He wore a white shirt, with a black robe over the top of it covering his feet, to just over his right shoulder.

_-line break-_

Naruto had trudged through almost a kilometre of forest land before he decided to take a break. He sat down and pulled out a scroll which had the word 'father' written on it. Naruto tried to open the scroll but it wouldn't budge.

'What the hell Pervy Sage!' shouted Naruto in anger which quickly turned to a wince when he cut his hand on a low hanging tree branch.

Naruto cradled his hand as a drop of blood fell onto the scroll. As he was angry he was subconsciously channelling chakra so it opened.

"Hmm guess I need to use my blood to open these scrolls." Thought Naruto as he started reading.

_Dear Naruto_

Naruto I am your father Minato Namikaze, The Fourth Hokage. First off, I am truly sorry for sealing the fox inside you. I can only hope the village sees you as the hero I wanted you to be seen as. However, I am also the Hokage and not entirely naive. If you were treated badly I am sorry and only hope you don't blame the villagers. They are ignorant and fearful and unable to understand anything as complex as sealing. In fact your mother is the only reason I became any good at sealing but I digress. I have left you the notes for my _**Flying Thunder God**__ technique and the __**Rasengan**__. I hope that Jiraiya has taught you the __**Rasengan**__ by now, my ultimate goal was to merge an element with it so now I leave that task up to you son. Know that no matter what I will always be proud of you even if you decide to turn on the leaf I won't blame you. Although as Hokage I would be against it, as your father I would understand._

Sincerely Minato Namikaze, The Fourth Hokage

Naruto was quite surprised his father was The Fourth Hokage, but honestly, it made a lot of sense to Naruto, as why would a random child be trusted with such great power. He then quickly searched for the other scroll which had the word 'mother' written on it. He then bit his thumb and swiped it over the word mother and pushed chakra into the scroll with his bloody hand causing it to open.

_Dear Naruto_

Hey son it's your mum. Oh wait you probably got that from the scroll. Anyway my name is Kushina Uzumaki. I hope you didn't suffer too much in your life because unlike your father, I know people won't accept you and will fear you, seeing as how I was the second host of the fox and saw how the few who knew and weren't my friends acted towards me. If you turn against the village I won't blame you, they probably deserved it. Anyway I left you some of my unique Uzumaki sealing techniques that both your father and Jiraiya would both die for to have. I have also entrusted you with all of my sealing knowledge, being the last of the Uzumaki clan. Sorry that you were stuck with such a burden and even if your father is an idiot I hope in time you can come to forgive us.

Love Kushina Uzumaki

Naruto was crying slightly as he now knew who his parents were and that they loved him. Naruto saw it was getting late and decide to camp there for the night. He then pulled out the four scrolls Kakashi gave him and made three clones. He handed them the fire, water and earth scrolls and took the wind scroll himself.

'Ok you guys read through this and tell me what it says to do when you're done.' Ordered Naruto.

'You got it boss.' Said the three in unison.

After an hour of reading all had finished reading their respective scrolls.

'Ok give me the basics of it.' Said Naruto.

The one who read the water scroll went to speak before the one who read the fire one interrupted.

'Well it says here you have to do a special exercise to be able to mold fire natured chakra.' Said the clone.

'I was also going to say that about water natured chakra before I was cut off.' Said the other clone as it glared at the clone which had just spoken.

Naruto just watched as two of his clones glared at the other before the clone which read the earth scroll pushed them both. Both fell forward jabbing themselves into a low hanging tree branch and dispelled causing the clone and the original Naruto to stagger from an information overload.

'Whoa did you just feel all that?' Asked the last clone.

'Yeah dispel yourself.' Ordered the original.

The clone dispelled and Naruto was hit with another burst of information. Naruto then gave a face splitting grin and used his signature jutsu.

'**Shadow Clone Jutsu**.' Said Naruto as four hundred clones appeared.

Half the clones grabbed a leaf for each of them. One hundred tried to split them while the other hundred tried to burn them. The other set of clones also split up into two groups with one group trying to meld with the earth while the others each tried to make the water rise up from a lake nearby.

The original Naruto started to do a series of push-ups and squats to improve his physical strength.

_-line break-_

Three hours later

_-line break-_

Most of the clones had dispelled having made little to no progress as of yet. Naruto himself was almost unconscious due to the intense physical and mental strain he had placed on himself.

'*huff* Well *pant* I guess *huff* I'm done, for now.' Said Naruto as he passed out.

_-line break-_

The next day

_-line break-_

Naruto woke up refreshed and ready to go, but there in lay the problem.

'Aw man I don't know where The Village Hidden In The Mist is.' Said Naruto.

He decided that since he knew where Wave was he would go there for now and hopefully get instructions from there.

He was passing the place where his team had met Zabuza for the first time when two ANBU with plain white masks dropped down in front of him.

'Naruto Uzumaki you are to come with us.' Said one of the ANBU.

'Wait a minute I got banished which means The Leaf doesn't want me. What are you trying to pull?' asked Naruto with narrowed eyes.

The ANBU instead of answering quickly made hand signs before calling his jutsu.  
'**Water Style: Water Whip Jutsu**.' A thin piece of water extended from the ANBU's hand which he then flicked which caused the whip to lunge at Naruto.

Naruto jumped back and made his signature hand sign causing twelve clones to appear. Eight rushed the ANBU, four for each of them. The four who stayed back started to make a **Rasengan **but found, that with three clones making one **Rasengan**, with the fourth maintaining its shape, it came out almost twice as big. All four charged at one of the ANBU and slammed the big **Rasengan **into him.

'**Giant Rasengan**!' shouted the four clones as the ANBU was ploughed into the ground and killed almost instantly.

The rest of the clones converged on the last remaining ANBU and attacked. Five kicked him up into the air while saying '**Na-Ru-To**.'

Two clones then jumped up and formed a **Rasengan** which they slammed into the airborne ANBU while shouting '**Rasengan Slam**.' Which destroyed the ANBU.

As the dust cleared a smashed log was revealed.

'Crap.' Said the original as all his clones were incinerated in a ball of fire.

The ANBU then charged at Naruto, drawing a tipless tanto. Naruto pulled out a kunai which he pushed against the slash of the tanto, but found he was being overpowered. Naruto then jumped back and summoned one clone to his side who he had throw him to the side. The ABNU slashed the clone causing it to dispel.

"Crap I don't have that many techniques to use against this guy aside from those he has already seen." Thought Naruto in a panic.

Naruto quickly did a few hand signs he saw in his fire and coincidently, the earth scroll, hoping for the best.  
**  
**'**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu**.' Called Naruto.

The ANBU having heard this made a wall of water but, what neither expected, was for a blob of lava to be launched instead of fire. The molten rock easily broke through the water due to its insane temperature and slammed into the ANBU burning a hole through his torso where his lungs would have been killing him instantly.

Naruto breathed heavily at having to use such a powerful jutsu and then threw up knowing he had just killed two people.

_-line break-_

Naruto journeyed on barely able to stay awake until he arrived at Tazuna's house. He knocked on the door and waited before Tsunami opened the door. Knowing he would be relatively safe for now Naruto passed out on Tsunami who quickly called for Inari and Tazuna.

_-line break-_

'Lord Danzo, it seems as though the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki evaded capture.' Said the same figure which had reported to Danzo last time.

Danzo frowned slightly before closing his eyes.

'Send out four this time, we must capture it before it gets too far away.' Said Danzo.

The figure bowed before leaving to fulfil Danzo's command.

"Soon I shall have all I need to become Hokage and protect The Leaf." Thought Danzo as he closed his eyes.

**Also I own Naruto Rasengan Slam**


	2. Naruto's Growth

**Ok sorry about the long wait, I wanted to try a longer than average chapter as I really wanted to introduce Mei, mainly because I hate it when a story is say, Naruto/Yugito and it takes almost 15 chapters for them to meet.**

This will be the last thing I say about my quotation marks. Look at the Harry Potter series, Deltora Quest series (which I took an element from for this story, I don't own Deltora Quest) or To kill a mockingbird. Three different authors from different countries UK, Australia and USA but all use ' ' to denote speech. It is not incorrect to use either as long as they are used consistently, it is solely authorial choice and I choose ' ' as well. For those who say I'm still wrong, frankly I don't care anymore.

There is not a lot of action in this chapter, sorry about that, but there will be some soon, after all Naruto is still training at the moment mainly due to the fact that I don't want him to stay at a canon skill level.

Enjoy the chapter.

SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan

Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the Naruto anime/manga all I own are my original characters and plot twists.

'Talking'

"Thinking"

'**Heavily demonic voice'**

'**Fox talking' **

"**Fox thinking"**

*expression*

**Jutsu **

_Flashback_

Chapter 2 – Naruto's Growth

Naruto awoke to find himself in the same room his sensei had been placed in previously during their mission to The Land of Waves. The memory of what Naruto had done before his dash to Wave caught up with him causing him to feel sickened and ashamed. Naruto sat up and ran his hands through his head.

"I killed them. I really killed them." Thought Naruto as his grip on his hair tightened. Naruto could not accept that because of him, two people were now dead.

"Does this mean... that I really am a monster?" Wondered Naruto in trepidation.

He was interrupted from his musings by the sound of footsteps. Tazuna looked no different than the last time Naruto saw him aside from the fact that his face held a worried frown.

'How are you feeling kid?' Asked Tazuna.

'Honestly, like a murderer.' Said Naruto as he gripped the thin sheet sprawled around his legs instead of his hair.

Tazuna frowned at the response, but Naruto, who was staring down at his sheet missed it.

'I don't see a murderer.' Said Tazuna prompting Naruto to raise his head slightly.

'You also didn't see the lifeless body of a person who you just killed, laying there on the floor spilling blood out of a massive chest cavity.' Replied Naruto in a haunted tone.

Tazuna grimaced at such a gruesome and vivid picture but knew that if he didn't snap Naruto out of his depression now, he may take his own life if someone didn't help him, as the ninja was highly unpredictable.

'Look kid, I've been around for many years now and I've seen and heard a lot.' Said Tazuna in a slightly reflective tone which prompted Naruto to look him in the face.

'People kill and people get killed, it is a way of life.' Said Tazuna solemnly.

Naruto seemed to be on the verge of crawling inside himself so Tazuna quickened his words, so as to be able to reach Naruto before he became a shell of a person.

'The point I'm trying to make is that these things will happen, but they don't make you any less human.' Said Tazuna.

Naruto looked at him with a glazed look before speaking.

'Have you ever killed someone?' Naruto asked.

'No, but many have. They didn't become shells of their former selves, such as your sensei, or did you forget about that?' replied Tazuna.

Truthfully Naruto had forgotten. Not just about that though Naruto forgot one very important thing: he was a ninja. He knew ninja killed and faced the danger of being killed, but the bad memories of his past caused him to forget that piece of information.

'B-but how do I move past this? Forget about the lives I have taken?' Asked Naruto seeking guidance through Tazuna.

Tazuna sighed before taking off his glasses and wiping the lenses on the scarf around his neck. He breathed in slightly before putting them back on and levelling a stern expression at Naruto.

'To be honest I don't know.' Said Tazuna which caused Naruto to clench the sheet again.

'However I do know that you need to find a way to cope with it. While I never killed anyone, to cope with the oppression of Gato and death of my son in law and of my grandson's innocence, I drink.' Said Tazuna somewhat upset.

Naruto absorbed this piece of information and with it came many revelations. Tsunade's drinking, Jiraiya's peeping, Kakashi and his porn, Asuma's smoking, Sasuke's obsession with revenge. Actually that last one probably didn't apply as Sasuke was like that before killing anyone.

Naruto looked up and realised he had been thinking for a while now, while Tazuna has simply waited for a reaction.

'Thanks Tazuna.' Said Naruto with a small yet genuine smile.

'So brat you never said what you were doing here.' Stated Tazuna.

'Hehe guess you're right.' Said Naruto as he scratched his head sheepishly.

'Well?' Asked Tazuna with a raised eyebrow. Whatever Tazuna was expecting he certainly didn't expect what Naruto was going to say next.

'Oh I got banished.' Said Naruto sadly.

'W-WHAT?' Shouted Tazuna in shock and surprise.

'Yeah I was heading to The Village Hidden In The Mist before I was attacked. Only thing was, when I was walking I realised that I had no idea where Mist is.' Said Naruto.

'Well I could give you a map of the area; it shows Wave and the neighbouring villages around it, including the general location of Mist which is in The Land of Water.' Said Tazuna.

'Really? That would be awesome.' Said Naruto in elation.

Tazuna smiled "Glad to have you back kid." Thought Tazuna before he left Naruto to pack.

_-line break-_

Naruto had packed up his things making sure he had everything with him from The Leaf as well as some vegetable sushi that Tsunami had made for him quickly and the map Tazuna had given him. Naruto was heading west to the edge of wave through a forest which had barely any light getting through the canopy as the trees were so clustered together. Since he didn't have a lot of money with him and didn't want to borrow from Tazuna after his abrupt visit, he decided to run across the water from Wave to The Land of Water. He figured that with his insane reserves he could make it.

'Wow.' Said Naruto in awe as emerged at a clearing. He looked upon a vast ocean glittering in the sunlight. There was not a lot of separation between the forest and the ocean, only having one metre of sand between them.

Naruto sat down and quickly pulled out two vegetable sushi which he ate at a sedate pace, while admiring the beauty of nature. As he finished them he stood up and dusted his hands. He tightened his backpack and made sure all his scrolls were firmly affixed to his waist.

"Well here goes." Thought Naruto as he started channelling chakra to his feet.

He took a step onto the water before looking behind him.

"Guess I won't be seeing land for a while." Thought Naruto before he turned around and started running on the water towards The Land of Water.

_-line break-  
_  
Naruto ran for hours until the majesty of nature, he observed before his run became an endless expanse of blue nothingness.

"Ugh how far is it?" Thought Naruto in boredom. Through his boredom however he never noticed the three metre wave approaching him from the left until it was right above him.

'Aw fu-.' Naruto started to say before the wave hit him and knocked him out.

_-line break-  
_  
It could have been seconds or even days as Naruto had no idea how long he was knocked out for, all he knew when he woke up was that he reached land.

'WOHOO LAND!' Exclaimed Naruto as he stood up and pumped his fist.

Naruto started to run forward believing he had arrived at The Land of Water but slowly realised something.

'Wait a minute. If this is The Land of Water, why is everything in ruins?' Said Naruto aloud.

In fact ruins, was putting it mildly. What remained of the buildings was cracked and broken, with most having been levelled to their very foundations. Not a single tree of the few present were standing and many of the boulders around were smashed with deep gouges in them.

'Man it looks like a war zone here.' Said Naruto as he walked through the destruction.

The further in Naruto walked, the worse the scenery looked until he arrived at a completely barren area with deep gouges going through the ground. Unbeknownst to Naruto had he looked at the ground from a higher vantage point he would have seen the very same symbol on his back gouged into the ground.

'Well, might as well eat something.' Said Naruto as he sat down. He pulled out an apple from his bag and a kunai from the pouch on his leg and started peeling the apple. He ate his first apple and then pulled out another as he wasn't full yet. As he peeled the second apple he accidently cut his thumb.

'Well that's irritating.' Said Naruto as he looked at his thumb and noticed the cut wasn't deep but was long going from the tip of his thumb to the base of it.

Naruto flicked his hand to get rid of the blood while some landed on a gouge in the land. Naruto stood up and shouldered his back pack while quickly devouring the apple.

'Well I guess I should-.' Began Naruto before he felt dizzy and disoriented for a minute.

'Go.' Finished Naruto as he blinked in confusion. Instead of seeing the barren wasteland he had just been sitting on, he now stood in front of a broken steel gate. The gate encircled what Naruto found reminiscent of The Village Hidden In The Leaves. The buildings looked abandoned but seemed to be in relatively good shape. Naruto walked past the gate and around the buildings. For some reason he felt drawn to the central building which reminded him of the Hokage tower. The front door of the tower was made from silver and had two red whirlpools carved into where doorknobs would have normally been.

'Hmm wonder if this works the same way as the scrolls I got.' Said Naruto as he bit his thumb and wiped it across both swirls while pushing chakra through his thumb.

The door opened inwards allowing Naruto to see that the inside of the tower was relatively untouched. The wooden floor was painted a dark orange in colour, the walls were red and the ceiling was bright yellow. There was a small desk in the centre of the room with a small lamp on it and two staircases one to the left and one to the right.

Naruto walked up the staircase to the right and passed three levels before reaching the top of the tower. He saw a swirl on the centre of the only door on the fourth level. Naruto once again bit his thumb and swiped it across the swirl while channelling chakra. The door opened and Naruto walked in.

As he took his first step in he felt a shiver run through his spine. He then instinctually jumped forward as a golem dropped down right where he had been standing previously. The golem was rather simple with a single eye in the middle of its forehead, two arms, and two legs which were left uncovered. In its right hand it held a sword and in its left a scroll. Naruto stared at the golem and the golem stared back at him before putting the scroll it was holding in front of it. Naruto cautiously approached the scroll and grasped it. He unfurled it and looked at it. The golem then shattered and turned into dust.

"Uh that was weird." Thought Naruto as he started to read the scroll.

The only thing in the scroll was a map of the room with a wall circled. Naruto walked over to the where the wall should have been and saw a bookcase. He stood next to the bookcase and slowly pushed it away. After he moved the bookcase out of the way he saw a swirl on the wall. By now he knew exactly what to do and bit his thumb to draw blood once again.

"Man I'm going to lose so much blood if this is the only way to get around." Thought Naruto as he swiped his hand across the wall.

The wall rose and revealed a small space large enough to hold a small child. Inside the space was a rather long scroll. It was about as thick as the heaven scroll he had in the Chunin exams but was almost two metres long.

Naruto carefully removed it before opening it up on the floor. It looked like the scroll Jiraiya had Naruto sign to summon the toads. Naruto followed the same procedure he did last time but unlike last time after he signed his name he felt his legs burn before he closed his eyes and screamed in pain.

_-line break-_

When Naruto opened his eyes he found himself on a largely uninhabited island which was surrounded by mountains. At the centre of the area was a small bubbling pit reaching almost ten metres in diameter. Naruto had no idea what happened to him and wandered closer to the bit. As he approached the pit he saw that it was shining with all the colours of the rainbow at random.

'Wow that's so cool.' Said Naruto in awe.

As he finished speaking a snout broke the surface of the water. Naruto jumped back and drew a kunai. The snout was followed by an eye and then a head before the body of a dragon burst from the pit. The scales and eyes of the dragon glittered in a rainbow of colours. It had two spines on the back of its head which were a metre in length. It possessed smaller scales down its back and head while its tail had none. Its tail was four metres in length which combined with the six metres of its body gave the ten metre dragon a rather imposing presence. Its underbelly didn't show as many colours as the rest of its body and seemed to resemble the daytime sky, as it was a pale blue with white and yellow flecks running through it. Its eyes were slitted and its thirty centimetre white teeth were shining brightly which eerily reminded Naruto of Lee.

The dragon came forward flapping his wings which allowed Naruto to see its wingspan was five metres wide with a metre length spine on the top of each wing. Naruto backed up while the dragon came forward and landed in front of Naruto and looked at him with a piercing gaze.

**'Child do you know where you are?' Enquired the dragon in a deep baritone.**

Naruto was startled that it spoke and dropped his kunai in surprise.

'Well um no.' Said Naruto abashed.

**'Well you are in the summoning realm of the dragons. Based on your lack of knowledge of where you are I assume the Uzumaki clan is gone.' Said the dragon.**

'Yeah, I can't be sure, but I think I am the last one as I have never seen another Uzumaki before.' Said Naruto.

The dragon closed its eyes in what Naruto perceived to be thought. After some time the dragon came up with an idea and bought its tail forward before touching Naruto's forehead. Naruto was instantly bombarded with memories which were not his ownhe saw some red-headed people riding on dragons while making rapid brush strokes on paper. He saw different coloured dragons; some being emerald in colour, while others sparkled like diamonds. He saw many other memories some of red-headed people using weapons, while others used a wide variety of jutsus, some similar to the lava ball he used against the ANBU, ice spears similar to the ones Haku could use, while others used a mist which literally dissolved the flesh and bones of invaders.

'Whoa.' Said Naruto as the dragon removed his tail from Naruto's head.

**'Yes whoa indeed. What you just saw were the deeds of your ancestors and my fellow dragon brethren. You will notice that not all looked as I do as there are seven distinct types of dragons. Dragons such as me are capable of utilizing wind and ice techniques. Other dragons can use other techniques, but I believe they should tell you about their techniques themselves.' Said the Dragon as Naruto recovered.**

'Oh by the way my name is Naruto Uzumaki.' Said Naruto as he stuck his hand out to shake.

**'Oparu.' Said the dragon as it brought forward an appendage with four claws jutting over, what appeared to be fingers to shake Naruto's hand, easily dwarfing it.**

'So can you teach me about how to use wind and ice techniques?' Asked Naruto.

Kibou nodded before motioning Naruto towards the lake.

**'To start with you need to freeze that lake for ice and split it for wind. Best you get started now.' Said Oparu.**

Naruto walked over to the lake and made his signature hand sign causing fifty clones to appear.

'Let's do it.' Naruto before he and his clones proceeded to try and freeze and split the lake.

**"Hmm he has lots of potential." Thought Oparu as he watched Naruto.**

_-line break-_

Three months later, in the Leaf Village

_-line break-_

'What do you mean you don't know where he is?!' Shouted Tsunade to Jiraiya who was looking at her solemnly from his seat on the windowsill.

'Exactly what it sounds like Tsunade. After leaving Wave neither my spies nor I have spotted him anywhere. It is almost as if he vanished into thin air.' Said Jiraiya truly perplexed.****

Tsunade sighed before crossing her hands in front of her face and placing her chin on them.

'Alright Jiraiya as much as it pains me, forget about Naruto for now. However as soon as he resurfaces I want to be the first to know.' Said Tsunade clearly upset.

Jiraiya nodded and left.

_-line break-_

'So Kakashi what are we going to do today?' asked Sasuke. Sasuke was wearing the same clothes he wore for the Chunin exams, minus the black strap that used to lie around his left hand and right calf.

'Well I was thinking of a Ninjutsu spar without the Sharingan.' Said Kakashi. Kakashi had not changed at all in the three months Naruto had left, but if someone particularly observant looked at him they could see he walked with a slightly defeated air about him.

Sasuke got in a ready stance while Kakashi started going through hand signs. Sasuke began making his own hand signs before launching a fireball at Kakashi while Kakashi countered with a water dragon.

"I hope whatever you're doing is helping you achieve your goals, whatever they may be." Thought Kakashi as he dodged a barrage of kunai.

_-line break-_

'Lord Danzo we still can't find a trace of the nine-tails.' Said a kneeling figure.

'Send out four more men, we must find it immediately.' Said Danzo to which the figure nodded and disappeared.__

-line break-

**'Well Naruto I would say you have just about mastered ice and wind manipulation. In such a short time I may add. To gain mastery in two elements in four months is astonishing.' Said Oparu in praise of Naruto's learning ability.**

'Thanks Oparu.' Said Naruto. Naruto had shot up in height now being a metre and a half, ten centimetres taller than he was four months ago.

'So does this mean I need to go find the other dragons for my training?' Asked Naruto.

**'Actually, they need to accept you first. You see you came to me first as you have a special bond with the opal dragons being born in October. For the others though they have to decide themselves when they want to train you.' Replied Oparu.**

'So what should I do now? Go back to looking for Mist?' Asked Naruto.

**'I guess, but before you go let me give you something, lift up your shirt.' Said Oparu.**

Naruto obliged and Oparu touched the tip of his tail over Naruto's heart. There was a small flash of light and a tattoo of an opal dragon was seen coiled around where his heart was.

**'If you ever need me just swipe some blood over your heart and pump some chakra into it and I will be there to aid you.' Said Oparu with, what Naruto could only call, a smile.**

'Thanks Oparu, I'll try and summon you out for some fun sometime.' Said Naruto eliciting an amused snort from Oparu.

Oparu then stared Naruto in his eyes and Naruto felt his legs burn again before he found himself back in the building he got his summoning contract from.

_-line break-_

Naruto walked back out the gate he entered from. He stopped turned around and pulled out the map Tazuna had given him he quickly jotted down some lines from wave down to an unnamed land mass which he called Hidden Whirlpool Village.

'Now I hope this time I actually get to The Land of Water.' Said Naruto before he started running back to the coastline.

_-line break-_

After a now successful run, Naruto finally arrived at another land mass which according to his map was The Land of Water. ****

'Now how am I supposed to find The Village Hidden In The Mist?' pondered Naruto aloud.

Naruto started walking down the path which he noticed was devoid of any life, plant or animal. Despite this though there seemed to be a constant humidity in the air.

"I guess this is how they can use water jutsu so easily, with all this moisture though fire jutsu must be really hard to pull off." Thought Naruto.

After a while Naruto reached the end of the first island he arrived at and water walked to the next one.

"This must be the main island I've been walking for hours." Thought Naruto.

After walking for a little longer Naruto heard some explosions in the distance before a stray, explosive kunai landed near him causing him to jump to the left quickly to avoid losing a limb.**  
**  
'Ok now I'm angry.' Said Naruto as he jogged in the direction of where the kunai came from. He arrived on the scene of two mist ninja fighting each other.

"That's odd. Why are mist ninja fighting each other?" Thought Naruto.

'DIE! Rebel!' Shouted a slightly insane looking mist ninja. His entire body excluding his face was covered in fish net and he wore a dark blue cloak over this. His headband which depicted four wavy lines was wrapped around his left wrist. He had a stocky build and wild black eyes.

The other ninja appeared to be a middle aged man with a patch over his right eye. He wore a talisman in each ear with 'to hear' written on them twice on each side. He also wore a striped shirt and pants with seemingly the same pattern, with a green robe over them. His blue hair was styled in a manner resembling a shark fin.

Naruto silently and without any hand signs made five clones, having gained a degree of mastery over them during his training with Oparu. As the rebel approached a tree Naruto and his clones jumped out and quickly tackled both ninja before giving them a chop to their necks knocking them out. Naruto tied them both up to separate trees next to each other so they both faced him.

_-line break-_

After a surprisingly short amount of time both ninja woke up, the rebel sat there calmly while the other ninja was struggling against his bindings. Naruto coughed to gain their attention.

'Untie me now!' Shouted the mist ninja who looked insane.

'Hmm you seem to be the most rational one at the moment. Tell me why mist ninja were fighting each other.' Ordered Naruto as he pointed at the blue haired man.

'Given your headband I assume you are from the leaf.' Said the man.

'Banished but go on.' Said Naruto eliciting a raised eyebrow from the man.

'Well there is a civil war in Mist between bloodline wielders such as myself and loyalists which think all bloodlines are a plague.' Said the ninja giving a pointed look to the man next to him.

'Well that throws a wrench into my plans of getting someone to train me in boil and lava release.' Muttered Naruto causing both of them to look at him incredulously.

'More bloodline scum.' Spat the insane ninja.

'Our leader posses boil and lava release, if you release me I may be able to convince our leader to train you, if you help us out?' Propositioned the green clad ninja.

Naruto thought it over and figured it was a fairly reasonable offer.

'Okay.' Said Naruto as he threw a kunai cutting the ninja's ropes.  
'My name is Ao.' Said the green clad ninja.

'Naruto Uzumaki.' Nodded Naruto prompting a raised eyebrow and a look of deep thought to encompass Ao's face.

'Scum you will all die.' Shouted the remaining mist ninja.

'So what do we do with him?' Asked Naruto.

'Well we could kill him or bring him back for interrogation to our camp.' Suggested Ao.

'Okay.' Said Naruto as he put his hand out and engulfed the man in a block of ice.

The man gave a strangled gasp before being frozen in ice.

Ao coughed prompting Naruto to look at him. Ao pointed at the block with a raised eyebrow.

'Oh did I forget to mention I have ice release too and have full mastery over it?' Asked Naruto.

Ao nodded.

'Huh so I did.' Said Naruto who unravelled a scroll he had just pulled out and used a basic sealing technique he learned during his training with Oparu, from his mother's letter, to cause the ninja to disappear into the scroll. He then gestured for Ao to lead the way.

"Back in my day people didn't unnecessarily flaunt their powers." Thought Ao. __

-line break-

After traversing through the misty area for an hour or so they arrived at a clearing.

'Please close your eyes for a second Uzumaki.' Said Ao.

Naruto obliged but kept his awareness of the environment on high alert.

Ao made a few hand signs before pressing a specific area in the air near his head. As he did this a Genjutsu was released.

'You can open your eyes now Uzumaki.' Said Ao.

Naruto obliged and looked around seeing a new area devoid of mist and heavily entrenched with trees with a small stream going through them in a zigzagging pattern.

Ao started to walk, following the path of the stream while Naruto followed. After some time they reached a clearing full of activity. The expanse of land was mostly sand with a small section covered in grass. The grassy area had ten stumps driven into the ground which were being pounded away at by ten mist ninja. There were many ninja sharpening weapons, almost as though they were about to go to war very soon. There were also a few ninja carrying around boxes, no doubt filled with shuriken and kunai to a tent. All wore similar clothing including the greyish-purple Mist flak jacket, dark blue sandals, dark black pants and forehead protectors with the symbol of the Mist village. All in all Naruto counted about three hundred ninja. _  
_  
Some of the ninja nodded to Ao and didn't question why he was with a stranger leading Naruto to believe that Ao was some high up in rank.

"Surprising, since he was stuck fighting with one ninja who wasn't all that strong." Thought Naruto.

Ao and Naruto arrived at another tent than the one where the boxes were being taken. This tent was also more elegant and was a deep blue instead of the standard grey.

'A word of caution before you meet the leader of our rebellion. Do not mention anything remotely close to marriage or age. It won't end well trust me.' Said Ao with a shiver.

Naruto raised an eyebrow but was otherwise unfazed. Ao walked into the tent while Naruto waited outside. There was a lot of muffled whispering before Ao stuck his head outside and gestured for Naruto to come in. Naruto obliged and took his first glance at the leader of the rebels.

_-line break-  
_  
In the Leaf Village

_-line break-_

Jiraiya was rushing to the Hokage tower. Earlier in the day he had been relaxing in a quaint town just outside The Leaf Village when one of his spies had told him Naruto had been sighted near The Land of Water. Needless to say Jiraiya quickly left the town and headed straight to Tsunade.

Jiraiya scaled the tower and jumped in through the window surprising Tsunade.

'Jiraiya.' Begun Tsunade threateningly.

'Naruto.' Was all Jiraiya said getting Tsunade to immediately change her expression to an eager one.

Jiraiya continued seeing Tsunade was listening 'Has been sighted near The Land of Water. I don't know what he is doing but I think I should go to him now.'

'Impossible, I can't have you being too far from the Leaf at such a critical time.' Said Tsunade.

Jiraiya looked to argue but Tsunade cut him off before he could speak.

'Look until I can get his banishment reversed there really is nothing we can do for him.' Said Tsunade sadly.

'I understand that Tsunade but there is a duty I must do as his godfather.' Said Jiraiya.

'Right, like you have been doing for his whole life.' Said Tsunade.

Jiraiya was visibly hurt and took a moment to regain his bearings before speaking.

'That was harsh Tsunade.' Said Jiraiya with a downtrodden expression.

'Well I need you to face the facts. He survived without any of us so I'm sure he can do so again. *sigh* Look Jiraiya I want to help him as well, after all he is the only reason I came back to this village, but we need to think rationally with our heads, not our hearts as much as it may pain us.' Said Tsunade sadly.

'Here I thought you wouldn't be a good Hokage.' Mumbled Jiraiya but still loud enough for Tsunade to hear.

'Look Jiraiya I know you want to help him, but we have to look after the village for now. Wait a few more months and then I'll see if we can afford to let you travel away from here without us being seen as weak.' Said Tsunade.

'Fine.' Said Jiraiya sourly before leaving.  
_  
-line break-_

Back With Naruto

_-line break-_

The leader of the rebellion was a slender, busty woman. She had green eyes and ankle-length, auburn hair styled into a herringbone pattern at the back, a top-knot tied with a dark blue band, and with four bangs at the front. Two bangs are short, with one covering her right eye, and two are long, crossing each other on her bust, just below her chin.

She wears a long-sleeved, dark blue dress that falls just below the knees. It seemed to be closed at the front with a zip, and was kept open on the front-right side from the waist down. The dress only covered up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts. Underneath, she wore a mesh shirt that covered more of her upper body than her dress, but stops short of covering her shoulders and still leaves a sizeable cleavage. She also wore a skirt in the same colour as her dress and underneath those, mesh leggings reaching down over her knees. Around her waist, she wore a belt with a pouch attached to the back on the left along with high-heeled sandals and shin-guards reaching up over her knees, dark blue polish on her fingers and toes, with dark blue lipstick.

"I may not be as perverted as Jiraiya but I bet he would give his right arm to be able to see this epitome of beauty before me." Thought Naruto.

Ao gave a worried glance to Naruto and looked at the woman while the woman smiled.

'What is it?' Asked Naruto cocking his head to the side which the woman found cute.

'Oh nothing, just the fact that you called me the epitome of beauty, although I do wonder how you know Jiraiya.' Said the woman in a melodious voice.

'Aw I guess I said that out loud.' Said Naruto avoiding the question about Jiraiya receiving a nod from the woman and Ao.

'My name is Mei Terumi, and you would be?' Asked Mei.

'Naruto Uzumaki.' Said Naruto prompting a raised eyebrow from Mei as well.

'I take it you and Ao are familiar with the exploits of the Uzumaki as both of you raised an eyebrow upon hearing my name.' Stated Naruto.

'That is correct, but how are you aware, their village was destroyed and their clan thought to be extinct long before you would have even been born?' Inquired Mei.

'That's my secret for now.' Said Naruto is a slightly cold voice causing the tension in the room to increase.

'Very well Uzumaki you are entitled to your secrets, for now.' Said Mei easing the tension.

'So will you be able to train me in using boil and lava techniques?' Asked Naruto getting to why he even came to The Land of Water in the first place.

'On one condition, you help us fight against the bloodline haters.' Said Mei.

Naruto thought about it for a while and realised that helping out in this battle would definitely make it easier to become a Mist ninja, assuming the bloodline wielders won of course. If not he would still get training in lava and boil techniques.

'Very well, I accept.' Said Naruto with a nod.

'Excellent, let the training begin.' Said Mei with a smile that promised pain.

**Before anyone says anything the three month time skip is correct. When I come back to Naruto and say he has been training for four months is because a month passed between those two events. **


	3. Pain

**First off Happy New Year everyone. Secondly sorry there was such a gap between this and my last update but my house is being renovated so I was locked out of my room for almost a week. I will try to get my update speed back up to every couple of days but we are still renovating and won't be done until late January.**

In other news I decided to take somewhat of a dark turn for Naruto in this chapter because, he is unable to see his friends and those he considers family so I think that is a somewhat sufficient cause, for a person to go dark, similar to Sasuke. But before everyone flips out Naruto will bounce back from dark Naruto but he will still be a little dark, it will make more sense why after you read the chapter.

Lastly enjoy.  
SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan

Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the Naruto anime/manga all I own are my original characters and plot twists.

'Talking'

"Thinking"

'**Heavily demonic voice'**

'**Fox talking' **

"**Fox thinking"**

*expression*

**Jutsu **

_Flashback_

Chapter 3 – Pain

Naruto was breathing heavily. Mei's idea of training was to show him the attack by demonstrating it on him. It turned out that the jutsu he had used on the ANBU was **Lava Style: Lava Globs**. It seems that he was actually able to launch multiple lava globs rather just one like he had assumed. Mei used this to her advantage when they were just starting out as Naruto dodged one before letting down his guardthinking she would have to make hand signs again before launching another. Boy had he been wrong.

'**Lava Style: Lava Globs**.' Said Mei before launching seven different sized blobs of lava at Naruto.

'Damn it.' Said Naruto before quickly sending chakra to his feet for a burst of speed to escape.

The globs struck the ground melting it slightly, before hardening making the ground harder than before. Naruto then tried to make the hand signs but Mei's were quicker and thus his blue cape, which Mei had given him to wear so he could blend in, caught on fire. Naruto quickly threw it off leaving him in only a short sleeved blue shirt and dark navy pants.

'**Earth Style: Hidden Mole Jutsu**.' Said Naruto before disappearing underground.

Mei smirked before making more hand signs and jumping up before blanketing the area in lava globs.

Naruto who was hiding underground could only think "Aw crap."

Naruto quickly shot out of the ground only to get kicked in the face by Mei and sent flying shoulder first into the ground tearing up the sleeve of his shirt.

'Remember Naruto no jutsu except for the one we're practising.' Said Mei with her signature smile.

"Man this sucks." Thought Naruto as he popped his shoulder back in place.

'*Tch* Fine **Lava Style: Lava Globs**.' Said Naruto as he launched a single ball of lava at Mei.

'Not good enough.' Said Mei before she made the same hand signs Naruto had made, but instead of one, launched eight balls of lava at Naruto.

'Damn it.' Cursed the former Leaf ninja as he back flipped to avoid the blobs.

Upon impact with the ground chunks of molten rock were launched into the air forcing Naruto to use a substitution lest he be struck.

'No other jutsus!' Shouted Mei before she launched eight lava globs in a seemingly random direction.

Naruto quickly spun in midair to avoid being melted by molten lava.

"At this rate I'll die before I master the jutsu." Thought Naruto in exasperation.

Naruto clenched his fist and started to run around Mei.

"Alright lets think overloading this jutsu with chakra isn't working and using equal amounts of fire and earth natured chakra is the only combination to create lava so let's try building up the same amount of chakra and releasing it over a long period of time instead of all at once." Thought Naruto as he got behind Mei.

'**Lava Style: Lava Globs**.' Said Naruto.

Naruto launched a quarter of his gathered chakra while holding the rest back for an instant, sending out a head sized blob of lava before launching half of what remained, sending out a slightly larger blob and then lastly, launching all he still had gathered up releasing one last blob which was about the size of his torso.

'**Water Style: Water Wall**.' Said Mei before opening her mouth wide and launching a torrent of water, which rose about one metre into the air before spreading out two metres, blocking all the blobs of lava.

'About time you launched more than one blob. You're a pretty slow learner.' Said Mei.

'I hardly call being shown a jutsu by having it demonstrated on you until you can do it teaching.' Said Naruto as he crossed his arms.

'Well in any case it worked. Although you still need to work on it as you should eventually be able to launch four at least.' Shrugged Mei nonchalantly.

The blonde simply huffed and looked away. Mei started walking and Naruto followed after a while. She led him back to their main base so they could prepare for one of their assaults.

_-__line break-_

Naruto and Ao hid behind a small outcrop of rocks overlooking a camp of Yagura's. The area was largely dominated by pale beige tents.

'Ready Naruto?' Asked Ao.

'Sure this'll be easy.' Said Naruto while inwardly questioning whether he would be able to do what he had to.

-_line break-_

Flashback

-_line break-_

'So Ao you and Naruto will take out Yagura's most eastern camp. Any ideas, considering the camp holds about fifty men?' Asked Mei.

'Well I can make an indiscriminate number of clones so I don't think numbers will be an issue.' Said Naruto vaguely not wishing to divulge all his secrets.

'Well Ao?' Asked the brunette.

'I believe I could make water clones to help Naruto track down Yagura's men as well as any prisoners.' Said Ao vaguely as well not mentioning his Byakugan to a potential enemy.

-_line break-_

End Flashback

-_line break-_

"Am I really going to be able to kill fifty men?" Pondered the blond.

'Alright there are ten tents so I'll make ten water clones, with each clone send five of your clones.' Stated Ao sternly.

Naruto quickly crossed his fingers and made fifty clones, thankful that it was dark so Ao couldn't see his hand movements. When the clones appeared Ao's uncovered eye widened.

"Each clone has an equal amount of chakra. Hmm this is very different to the water clone jutsu." Thought Ao trying to remember where he had seen a similar clone jutsu.

'Move out.' Said Ao as all the clones quickly proceeded to the tents.

'Now let's go scope out the perimeter to make sure no one is hiding.' Said Ao to which Naruto nodded.

-_line break-_

The first group of clones came upon a tent which housed five ninja. They quickly proceeded to end their lives. The Naruto clones did so by using ice manipulation and froze all the water in the bodies of the soon to be dead ninja causing their internal organs to burst killing them instantly.

'Five down.' Whispered a Naruto clone.

'More to go.' Said the Ao clone before both types of clones dispelled.

-_line break-_

'That's five taken care of.' Naruto informed Ao after receiving the memories of his clones.

Ao nodded while inwardly thinking "He received their memories as well."

-_line break-_

The next set of clones proceeded to quickly slit the throats of the five in the tent before dispelling.

-_line break-_

The third group however had a problem.

'Two are missing.' Said the clone of Ao before turning into water due to being hit with a kunai to the back.

'Quickly clones.' Said one of Naruto's clones before they charged.

'**Water Style: Water Wall**.' Said one of the ninja's using the water from Ao's clone.

One of Naruto's clones who had charged in an attempt to engage in Taijutsu was dispelled by the wall alerting all the others as well as the original.

'Alright no more messing around**Ice Style: A Thousand Needles of Death**.' Said all four of the remaining clones while slamming their feet on the ground causing the water on the ground to shoot up in a manner similar to what Haku had employed.

The water now floating in the air sharpened into needles, but unlike Haku's jutsu they hardened and turned into ice. The clones all jumped back and the two ninja were skewered.

'Mistake corrected.' Said the main clone before they all dispelled.

_-line break-_

'That's fifteen now although the third group had a problem, two were awake we need to proceed more carefully there might be more awake.' Said Naruto.

'Very well.' Said Ao before he discreetly activated his hidden Byakugan.

'It seems there is one other ninja not in a tent, high Jounin chakra levels, best we take out all other ninja to avoid interference.' Said Ao.

'Alright I'll take out the ninja not in a tent, you make sure no one escapes from this camp.' Said Naruto.

Ao hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly. Naruto nodded before heading off in the direction Ao was looking.

"Does he have a bloodline?" Thought Naruto as he quickly and quietly ran.

"I need to be more careful he might catch on to my Byakugan considering he is from the Leaf." Thought Ao before heading of in the opposite direction to ensure there were no survivors.

Naruto slowed his run to a walk before stopping cold. About five metres from his position he could just barely make out the silhouette of a person. The figure was wearing a black short sleeved shirt and dark blue pants which flared out before tightening around the ankles. The figure had a medium sized bust indicating that the person was a female and had long dark purple hair which reached to the middle of her back. She was easily taller than Naruto and had long legs which led to perfectly heart shaped posterior. She had pale fair skin, no doubt a result from being in a village shrouded in mist. All in all she was a rather beautiful woman. As Naruto approached she opened her eyes and stared intently at him with dark blue eyes which unnerved Naruto. As he approached he was able to make out her face, it was rather pale and didn't have a single wrinkle. Her face was rather thin making her cheekbones more pronounced as well as her small nose and chin.

'You hold a bloodline don't you scum.' She stated in a bone chilling voice devoid of emotion.

'If I do?' Asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

'You, will, die.' She said slowly and calmly as though death meant nothing to her.

'I won't die here not until...' Said Naruto before trailing off as he begun to think about his purpose. In the past he only wanted to be Hokage but now that goal seemed well beyond his reach.

"Why do I live, for what purpose?" Thought Naruto.

Sure the blond had his friends but unfortunately for him he could count them all on two hands, not to mention the fact that almost all were in the Leaf village which he couldn't return to.

"Gaara is this how you felt?" Thought Naruto in empathy, now remembering his slightly unstable friend who killed others to feel alive.

The woman sensed Naruto's distraction and charged at Naruto with a roundhouse kick making full use of her reach. Naruto blocked and used her momentum to swing her around and launch her back in the direction she charged from.

"I am no longer able to protect my friends in the Leaf and I'm sure Gaara can take care of himself now that his siblings are no longer afraid of him." Thought the whiskered blond as he dodged an elbow before retaliating with an uppercut and super kick launching his foe backwards.

"My parents are long dead and I haven't heard of any other Uzumaki anywhere." Contemplated the former Leaf ninja as he jumped over a front sweep before nailing his foe with a vicious axe kick which dislocated her shoulder.

'**Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu**.' Said the woman as a three metre long dragon of water charged at Naruto who dodged to the side before throwing ten kunai at his foe and quickly sinking into the ground hidden by some of the water, which had risen up into the air when the water dragon crashed near him. Naruto crept underground moving through the ground as though it was water until he was directly under the ninja.

"Sure I could complete the **Rasengan** like my father wanted me to but why bother. What's the point?" Wondered Naruto before his hands shot out and clamped on to a set of ankles before the person they belonged to was dragged down into the ground until only their head was visible. Naruto quickly popped out of the ground and squatted down placing his kunai under her chin so the tip was just under it.

'Tell me for what reason do you live?' Asked Naruto in a subdued voice.

'I live to be of service to my Kage and protect the world from bloodline scum like you!' Spat the mostly buried ninja.

"I no longer have a Kage." Thought Naruto wistfully.

'That is enough Naruto we can take her back for interrogation now.' Said Ao who had only recently arrived.

Naruto nodded and absentmindedly pocketed his kunai before standing up.

"Is life meaningless or do I have some purpose which I have not yet learnt of?" Questioned Naruto now being able to think without having to fight at the same time.

Ao placed a chakra suppression tag on their captive before pulling her out of the ground and motioning for Naruto to head back to base. Naruto absentmindedly followed while continuing to think along the way.

_-line break-_

Naruto was sitting inside one of the larger tents which had been modelled into a bar.

'Get me your strongest drink.' Said the blond as he sat down on a stool.

The bartender put down a small glass and poured a small amount of liquor. Naruto blinked repeatedly before levelling a suspicious glare at the bartender almost expecting him to laugh and reveal he had been playing a prank on him, however when he met Naruto's gaze impassively Naruto shrugged before downing the contents of the tiny glass. Naruto's throat burned for a second and felt slightly dizzy before he felt the liquor being purged from his system. Naruto sighed inwardly while cursing the fox for making it impossible for him to become intoxicated before paying the bartender and walking out of the tent.

"Damn there is nothing to do around here." Complained Naruto as he walked around noticing that aside from training or drinking there was nothing for him to do.

"Wish I had a book, hell I'd even settle for what the old perv calls literature." Thought the former Leaf ninja as he continued walking.

Eventually he found himself back at the main tent which was right next to his and opposite Mei's. Naruto hesitated for a second before deciding to visit Mei reasoning that she didn't have much to do either. Naruto considered knocking first but then realised it was a freaking tent so there was nothing to knock on so Naruto settled for simply walking in.

Mei was inside and appeared to have just had a bath if the steam in the room was any indication.

"Well I guess she could be training in Boil Release techniques." Rationalised the bored ninja.

After a while the steam faded and Mei was revealed wrapped in a towel while using another towel to dry her long hair.

'Doesn't it get annoying to dry so much hair every time you have a shower?' Asked Naruto tactlessly.

Mei looked up suddenly clearly not expecting any company but after seeing it was only Naruto resumed her previous task.

'Not really I find it relaxing.' Replied Mei as she moved over to her bed in the centre of the tent before sitting down on it.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders not really caring, while looking at Mei.

'You know most men would be foaming at the mouth upon seeing me in nothing but a towel.' Mei said offhandedly hoping to get a reaction from Naruto.

'*Humph* Whatever.' Replied the blond emulating a certain brooding Uchiha.

Mei frowned slightly before speaking 'That is a rather different reaction given your words from the first time you met me. Were you lying then?' Asked Mei with narrowed eyes.

'No I meant what I said you do epitomise beauty, in my eyes at least.' Said Naruto getting a smile from Mei.

'I just find it hard to care at the moment given my current dilemma.' Finished the blond ninja drawing a frown from Mei.

'Oh, what dilemma would that be?' Asked Mei as she finally finished drying her hair and wrapped the towel around her head before looking for clothes to wear.

'Reason, will, purpose.' Retorted the bored ninja vaguely.

'Meaning?' Said Mei as she gestured for Naruto to turn around while she changed.

'I no longer have a reason to live and thus have lost my will as I do not have a purpose in life.' Said Naruto.

'Oh, why is that?' Asked the brunette.

'I have been banished from my village which contains almost all my friends, whom coincidentally can all be counted on my two hands, while those not a part of my former village really don't have any need for me at the moment.' Replied the blond.

'Well that doesn't explain why you have no reason to live or purpose.' Probed Mei wanting more from the enigma behind her.

'I only lived to be Hokage and after some advice, to protect those precious to me as well. How can I protect those in a village which I can't enter, it would be quite difficult wouldn't it?' Replied Naruto not really caring about withholding information anymore due to his current state of mind.

'Why not find a new purpose or new precious people?' Suggested the female ninja.

'I never found a purpose in the first place nor precious people, both found their way to me through the actions of others.' Replied Naruto.

'You can turn around now.' Said the now blue clad woman.

'So now I find myself with nothing to do I can't even get drunk.' Said Naruto with his tone becoming slightly whiny at the end.

'Why is that?' Asked Mei not really curious but merely trying to keep the conversation going.

Naruto paused having an internal debate as to whether he should reveal his Jinchuuriki status.

'Certain events at birth have led to me being immune to alcohol.' Replied Naruto vaguely.

'Why do you want to get drunk anyway?' Asked the brunette.

'Hmm it was just a whim, I hoped it would help pass the time until the next raid or training session.' Replied the blond uncaringly.

Mei's lips shrunk becoming a thin line while her eyes narrowed.

'Most would take advantage of any spare time and seek to better themselves rather than indulging in whims.' Commented the green eyed beauty while inwardly frowning.

'I thought about it but then figured why? For what reason should I better myself, quite frankly after this civil war is over I won't have anything to do. In fact the only reason I came here was to gain a better understanding and hopefully control over my bloodlines but that's superfluous now.' Stated the blue eyed blond using one of Oparu's favourite words.

Mei was rather taken aback at Naruto's complete disregard and lack of care for anything.

'Then why stay, why not leave?' Asked Mei angrily.

'Well aside from the reason I just gave you I did say I would help you against the bloodline haters if you trained me and you have, though you methods are questionable. So even though I have no purpose I still have my honour and I will stick to my words and see this war through to the end, who knows if luck is on my side I may die in the final battle.' Said Naruto before Mei stood up and quickly slapped him.

Naruto was surprised by the rash action and simply stared at the emerald eye which the brunette was glaring heatedly from.

'How can you be so callous towards your own life? Does it mean nothing to you?' Asked Mei angrily.

'What is a life? To no longer have any use to anyone, to no longer have a goal, that is not a life it is merely existence.' Replied the blond with a hollow tone.

Mei was quite frankly stunned and couldn't think up an opposing argument despite knowing she was very much against Naruto's view.

'Speechless? Tell me, what is your purpose in life?' Asked Naruto.

'I wish to end the bloodshed in The Village Hidden in the Mist and rebuild it in order to reclaim its strength and prestige as one of The Five Great Nations.' Said Mei passionately.

'Then what?' Asked Naruto confusing Mei.

'What do you mean?' Asked Mei.

'I mean what will you do after you achieve your goal? At most that would only take ten years so what then?' Asked Naruto probing Mei hoping to find something that could help him regain a purpose in life.

Mei paused and thought about her goals after ending the war and only one thing really came to mind "To have a family." Mei thought.

Naruto waited hoping to receive an answer and after hearing none sighed.

'You see you don't have anything to live for after Mist is restored either, at least you have that though. Quite frankly after this war I really have nothing left to do, so what then? Become a mercenary, why, for fame or money, why bother?' Continued the blond while shrugging his shoulders at the end.

'In any case I'll go now since I'm sure you have better things to do.' Said Naruto before he left Mei's tent for his own to sleep leaving behind an angry and confused brunette.

_-line break-_

In The Village Hidden in the Leaves

_-line break-_

'What, Sasuke has left the village?!' Shouted Tsunade at a despondent Sakura.

'Yes Lady Hokage he left last night I *sob* don't know why he would leave.' Said Sakura on the brink of tears.

'Damn it ANBU get me Shikamaru Nara immediately!' Ordered Tsunade.  
'Sakura you can go now.' Said Tsunade.

Sakura considered protesting but then thought better of it and gave a slight nod before leaving.

"Darn without Naruto I don't know if they're going to be able to get him back, better get some outside help." Thought Tsunade before taking out a scroll and writing a mission aid request for The Village Hidden in the Sand.

_-line break-  
_  
Naruto found himself in a sewer.

"Oh great it's that bloody fox." Thought Naruto in annoyance as he had been enjoying his sleep.

Naruto begrudgingly walked until he found himself in front of Kyuubi's cage.

'*sigh* Oi fuzzy what do you want!' Shouted an irate Naruto.

**'MORTAL how dare you speak to me like that!' Shouted the fox coming into Naruto's view.**

'Yeah yeah whatever, what do you want already?' Said Naruto with a bored glance even having the audacity to clean out his left ear with his pinky in boredom.

Kyuubi growled and slammed into the cage at the blatant disrespect.

**'You want to become suicidal then so be it, but do it after I'm no longer trapped inside you. You want a goal, a reason to live FINE! The murderer of your parents is still alive.' Shouted the fox before his tone became positively mocking.**

Naruto's eyes widened and he looked straight at Kyuubi whose face was akin to the cat that caught the canary.

**'I see that piqued your interest so here's the deal you finish up with your stupid human war and defeat the holder of the, as you would call it 'Three Tails' and I'll tell you some information about the night of your birth.' Said Kyuubi while staring at Naruto.**

Naruto nodded.

**'Excellent now LEAVE!' Shouted the fox before it expelled Naruto from its domain.**

_-line break-  
_  
'Well who would have thought the fox would hold the answer to my reason for existence.' Said Naruto aloud after waking up.

'I guess if there is no one for me to protect, vengeance against the person who killed my parents and made my life hell will suffice, for now.' Said Naruto darkly before he stood up and walked out of his tent towards Mei's.

It was still about six in the morning so the camp was relatively quite but there were about ten early birds such as him who were out and about beginning their daily routines.

Along the way Naruto couldn't help but think of an individual who shared his mentality.

"Heh never thought I would ever be able to empathise with Sasuke." Thought Naruto as he walked to Mei's tent. Upon arriving he walked straight in and sat on the empty bed waiting for her to show up.

_-line break-  
_  
Mei opened her eyes after having a rather troubling night. She had stayed up for almost an hour trying to think about what could be done to fix the moody blond, granted he wasn't one of their ninjas, but he was a powerful asset nonetheless. After waking up Mei quickly got up and washed her face before heading back to her bed only to find Naruto sitting on it. Naruto seeing her stood up and walked until he stood about one metre away from her.

'I am the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi and have complete mastery over the **Shadow Clone Jutsu**. Upon dispelling, the clones transfer everything they learnt back to the original including jutsu knowledge. I want you to push me to my limit and teach me as much as you can as fast as you can.' Said Naruto in a demanding tone.

Mei was taken aback at this new knowledge and slightly irked at the fact that he was demanding something from her.

Mei gave her sickly sweet smile before saying 'Very well let the pain begin.'

**Next to be updated will be To Be The Best and then I will repeat the cycle update wise.**


	4. Darkness

**The first note is the same as my note from my latest TTONU chapter so if you read that skip this part of the note to the next break.  
I am sad to say but I no longer want to have Temari in the harem. I suppose it has to do with the fact that after some reading I have come to like Shikamaru and Temari together, plus Shikamaru is cool. As a result of this I no longer want Temari in either of Naruto's harems and thus am taking her out. Sorry to any Naruto/Temari fans but I am not really, for lack of a better term, "feeling" Naruto/Temari anymore.**

Now I have also been thinking of having either a small harem or just Naruto/Mei. If I did do a small harem it would be Mei, Konan, Fuka and possibly Samui or Yugito.  
Please let me know which you would prefer.

Disclaimer – I don't own anything from the Naruto anime/manga all I own are my original characters and plot twists.

'Talking'

"Thinking"

'**Heavily demonic voice'**

'**Fox talking' **

"**Fox thinking"**

*expression*

**Jutsu **

_Flashback_

Chapter 4 – Darkness

As Mei had promised Naruto's training, if it could be called that, pushed him to the physical limits of pain and broke through them. Since Mei was aware of the healing abilities of Jinchuuriki through her few battles with Yagura she was now a pain inflicting machine; and quite possibly a sadist. Knowing that Naruto's skin would heal she started to train him in utilizing his boil release which unfortunately for Naruto meant he had to build up a resistance to its acidic properties which involved him being immersed in an acidic mist which resulted in his skin peeling off quite frequently, granted it couldn't compare to having a demon's chakra melt of your skin but Naruto didn't know that, yet.

Naruto though seemed to be a mix of a masochist and a rock as all the pain he felt only made him smile slightly with the singular thought of revenge driving him to endure everything: whether it be cold weather or an acidic miasma he did not care as long as he got stronger as a result.

_-line break-_

Somewhere in The Land of Fire

_-line break-_

Sasuke was in immense pain comparable to his former teammate at the moment, however unlike him, Sasuke did not enjoy it at all. Having taken a special pill from a group which called themselves the "Sound Four", Sasuke's world erupted in agony with a searing pain burning through his neck from his cursed seal while his lungs and heart seemed to be constricting and shrinking causing his pain to double tenfold.

He was vaguely aware of one of them mentioning something about acting quick before losing him but at that moment Sasuke's brain erupted in agony feeling as though a sword was being driven straight through his forehead. He was unaware that someone had picked him up and placed him in a strange box as his heart was beating erratically, after a moment his heart stopped beating and Sasuke collapsed.

Inside the box Sasuke was plunged into complete darkness but somehow retained his mental faculties.

'D-Did I die? I felt my heart stop but…' Sasuke trailed off at the end before looking around.

A bright spot in the darkness grabbed his attention but soon started to fade, Sasuke quickly ran to it unsure of what was happening but knew that he needed to follow the light.

The light blinded him momentarily before he found himself being held in the arms of his mother. After a quick glance he saw that he was a baby again. He noticed his mother talking to a red haired woman before the scene changed again in a flash of light.

Now he was watching Itachi as a young child sparring with a blond haired man in the arms of his mother. Even now Sasuke could tell the man was going easy on Itachi but Itachi wasn't making it easy for him.

The scene changed again revealing Sasuke in Itachi's arms with an eerie silence around them.  
'Sasuke no matter, what your big brother will always protect you.' Said Itachi firmly.

The area around Sasuke suddenly went pitch black and a low hissing sound could be heard reverberating around him.

'You want power don't you Sasuke?' Said a smooth hissing voice.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, or at least he believed he did.

"What is going on what was all that?" Thought Sasuke in confusion.

'Rise Sasuke, come to me, I will give you power. The power you want, the power you need to get your revenge.' Said the same voice before Sasuke felt himself become engulfed in purple flames.

Sasuke laughed in euphoria at the feeling of power he sensed in the flames which clung to him.

'Yes this is POWER!' Shouted Sasuke manically before waking up and snapping open his eyes, suddenly bursting out of the box he was in, heart beating once again, full of malice.

_-line break-_

Sasuke looked around and saw a badly beaten Lee and a Sound ninja he had never seen before. Uncaringly Sasuke looked around before heading off in the direction of Sound knowing no one would be able to stop him.

_-line break-_

At the rebel base camp

_-line break-_

Naruto was happily whistling as he walked to his tent, quite a few of the onlookers were floored at the massive change Naruto underwent overnight from a depressed, apathetic child to a ball of happiness.

"One step closer." Thought Naruto as thanks to his training he was now capable of enduring a mist of pH five.  
**  
**"Hmm now I find myself with a dilemma." Thought Naruto as he stopped whistling and took up a pensive expression.

"What to do in my free time, hmm?" Thought Naruto as he walked back to his tent.

Upon arrival he went in and sat on his floor at the foot of his bed leaning his back against it.

'Let's see I can't drink like Tsunade so that is off the table, hmm smoking is also off the table given the massive amount of mist around here. Well I don't have any books so Kakashi's past time is out the window. Let's see what else can I do?' Said Naruto while leaning his chin on his right palm while his other hand supported his right elbow.

'Ha of course! Pervy Sage's favourite hobby, peeping. Hmm that might be a bit difficult given where I am presently; it is highly doubtful the rebels have a hot spring around. Hmm well Jiraiya had free reign so he choose to fluster all women, however given my circumstances that will be difficult, though not impossible, but, I think there is one person I can give some special attention too.' Said Naruto before ending with a sinister and slightly lustful smirk.

Elsewhere the leader of the rebels gave a slight shiver of excitement.

'I don't know why but I feel as though things are going to get fun soon.' Said Mei aloud before gaining a seductive smirk.

_-line break-_

Outside a hot spring in Tanzaku Town

_-line break-_

'I don't know why but I have that strangest feeling that I have succeeded in turning someone to the ways of the pervert. Hmm I better keep an extra copy of my books around to give to Naruto the next time I see him.' Said Jiraiya aloud before returning to his research.

_-line break-_

The next day

_-line break-_

Naruto woke up eagerly anticipating the day, as this day would be the day Naruto put his new method of entertainment to the test. He decided to grab two bananas and an orange for breakfast. He peeled the orange with a kunai and walked to his usual training area while slicing off and eating pieces of it. By the time he had arrived at the damp training ground he had already started eating his first banana. He waited patiently knowing that Mei would be by soon.

_-line break-_

Mei woke up at her usual time of six sharp in the morning as always before going through her usual morning activities. While getting ready she pondered the new changes to her temporary solider. Having such a rapid change in mentality was never a good thing in Mei's experience as it hinted at a lack of mental stability.

"Although I am not sure which is better apathetic and emotionless or apathetic and masochistic?" Thought Mei as the image of Naruto smiling in the face of having his skin peeling off due to acidic burns entered her mind. Getting lost in her musings Mei lost track of time and realised if she didn't move soon she would be late.

'*sigh* So much for breakfast.' Said Mei with a heavy sigh as she grabbed a ration bar disdainfully.

Mei ate it as quick as possible so she wouldn't have to dwell on the taste of the almost cardboard flavoured bar. Running she arrived at the training ground with a minute to spare.

'Well you were almost late Mei, mind elsewhere?' Asked Naruto with a teasing grin.

"Well he changed, again." Thought Mei in confusion.

'Sorry about that but I still made it on time.' Said Mei with her characteristic smile.

'True you did, here catch.' Said Naruto as he threw something at Mei which she quickly caught before looking at it.

'A banana?' Questioned Mei in curiosity.

'Mhm I figured you might be, hungry.' Said Naruto with a slight smirk as he said hungry.

Now Mei wasn't a fool in her twenty so years of life she had become a person who was quite adept at reading people's motives. So naturally with Naruto smirking as he said the word hungry and him offering her a banana, of all possible food choices, she was naturally suspicious. In addition her teasing nature was not a front as she had a good idea at what Naruto was implying with both his words and actions.

"Hmm he is still five years too young to tease me." Thought Mei smirking inwardly.

'Why thank you I indeed had to skip breakfast today.' Said Mei as she peeled the banana.

Naruto waited with a face of stone while inwardly jumping with playfulness.

"Almost." Thought Naruto as Mei brought the banana to her lips.

She slowly slid it into her mouth to about half of its total length before Naruto formed a one handed seal behind his back while channelling ice chakra which caused the banana to turn to ice shocking Mei at the sheer coldness while also sticking to her mouth.

'My, my Mei you certainly are eager this morning.' Said Naruto happily.

Mei had not expected him to freeze the banana but his voice brought her back to her senses. She started pooling boil release chakra in her mouth before releasing it around the banana causing it to literally dissolve right before Naruto's eyes.

'Oops seems like it couldn't survive my mouth.' Said Mei with a smile while closing her eyes.

"Damn that was scary but also a little hot." Thought Naruto while 'little Naruto' cringed in apprehension.

All around the world 'little men' shivered for their poor comrade.

Mei opened her eyes to see him smirking slightly which puzzled her as most men would have been at least a little scared from her display.

'So can we get started now?' Asked Naruto in a bland tone.

'Certainly prepare yourself.' Said Mei before making the horse seal and releasing a swathe of acidic miasma from her mouth which enveloped Naruto.

Initially, it was only a slightly acidic mist, not more corrosive than acid rain but Mei was slowly but steadily dropping the pH from just under seven down to six and finally five. At this stage Mei looked at Naruto and was slightly surprised to see that he was completely unharmed.

'Lower.' Said Naruto in a level tone.

Mei initially hesitated but remembered that Naruto did need to get used to lower pH levels so she dropped it down to four. The now ten times stronger acidic mist started to cause Naruto's skin to turn red in irritation from the acid. Naruto however released a relaxed sigh, almost as if he was enjoying it.

'So have you ever tried to release this type of chakra from other parts of your body than your mouth?' Asked Naruto.

"Is he teasing me again?" Thought Mei but looking at Naruto's face it only showed genuine curiosity.

'No as if it isn't released properly it can corrode through skin and bone.' Said Mei after a while.

'Hmm that is a shame.' Thought Naruto before saying lower again.

As the pH level dropped to three Naruto's skin begun to peel off causing him to release a heavy sigh.

"Yes this makes me feel alive." Naruto thought in relaxation.

"Hmm I wonder if this is how Gaara felt when he killed people and scattered their blood everywhere. I guess I'll have to ask him sometime." Thought the morbid fox carrier.

After a while the green eyed beauty dissipated the acidic mist much to the Uzumaki's disappointment.

'That should be enough for today at this rate you will completely unaffected by the strongest possible acidic mist which can be produced, possibly within the next three days.' Said Mei in a thoughtful tone.

'That is really good, I can't wait. But thank goodness for resistance seals or I would keep ruining all my clothes at this rate.' Said Naruto in a slightly happy tone.

"Hmm so it seems he can be happy but only related to training matters… well there was also his attempts to tease as well I guess." Thought Mei before getting an idea and giving a devilish smirk.

'So how about a spar after all I have yet to test the full extent of your abilities and as a leader I have to know the strength of my troops?' Suggested Mei in a casual manner.

'Sure why not, any restrictions?' Asked Naruto dropping into a bizarre stance with both his arms down sticking out at the ground at a forty-five degree angles with his hands open into claws and facing back with his left leg in front of his right, a little less than shoulder width apart, with both legs bent at the knees with his right foot flat on the ground while his left was propped up on the ball of his foot.

Mei was flabbergasted at such a strange stance but quickly recovered.

'No weapons, but everything else goes.' Said Mei.

Naruto nodded and waited for Mei to take a stance.

'Well, what are you waiting for?' Asked Mei.

'Uh aren't you going to take a stance?' Asked Naruto in confusion while still keeping his guard up.

'I already have.' Said Mei before melting into lava.

"Aw crap." Thought Naruto before a reverse roundhouse hit the back of his head sending him to the ground.

'Oh my, don't tell me that is it?' Taunted Mei with a smirk.

Naruto spat out a bit of blood having bitten his cheek from the surprise kick.

'Fine, you asked for this.' Said Naruto as he got back into his stance. Chakra crawled along his arms before forming a set of claws on his hands made out of glowing blue chakra with a slightly reddish tint.

Naruto burst forward in a rush of speed and threw a clawed uppercut at Mei's face which she avoided by back flipping. She turned to face Naruto in midair before shooting a massive glob of lava at him. Naruto quickly made a tiger hand sign followed by dog before a large wall of ice rose up blocking the lava. Naruto quickly sunk underground and ran towards Mei while making a clone appear behind him. The clone jumped out of the ground behind Mei while Naruto stayed and waited. Mei made a few quick hand signs and shot three water bullets at the clone dispelling it before slamming her hands on the ground causing the earth to split revealing Naruto.

'Nice try but did you forget I've already stopped you when you tried this before.' Said Mei with a smile.

'Well have you seen this before?' Asked Naruto before turning away and launching **Wind Style: Great Breakthrough** which propelled him at Mei while the chakra on his hands was replaced with wind natured chakra. Two quick claw thrusts and Mei's right sleeve and clothing around the right side of her stomach was torn to shreds with Mei barely dodging in time as blood dripped down her right forearm.

Mei was angry. Not for the reason of some 'kunoichi' as her clothing had been damaged, no, Mei was not a person who cared for such trivial and pointless things. She was angry because not only had she been caught off guard by such a simple trick, but by someone who was a Genin while she was supposedly a Kage level ninja. Mei's pride would not allow this.

Mei made the horse seal and dropped her mist down to a pH of one before releasing it around the area trapping Naruto within the ten metre area not taken up by an acidic mist.

'**Boil Style: Acid Spears**.' Said Mei while holding the horse hand sign.

The acidic mist around Naruto and Mei turned into hundreds of spears before charging straight at Naruto.

'Damn **Water Style: Multi Water Wall Jutsu**.' Said Naruto hurriedly before four walls of water sprung up around him shielding him from the spears while he formed an ice mirror which he walked into which spat him out twenty metres away, but unfortunately three metres in the sky.

'Thanks for the save Haku.' Mumbled Naruto before kneading a large amount of fire natured chakra in his lungs.

As the mist created from the clashing of the water walls and acid spears cleared, Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

"I really hope I didn't kill him." Thought Mei in worry.

'**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu**.' Shouted Naruto five metres away in the air behind Mei launching a fireball five times bigger than the average one.

Mei inwardly breathed a sigh of relief before going through a large amount of hand signs at blurring speeds.

'**Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu**.' Said Mei before the mist around her formed into a massive five metre long dragon.

'Hmm, Oparu is twice as big.' Mumbled Naruto in thought before creating a clone in midair which begun to help him form a Rasengan before throwing him straight at the ground while he was obscured by the clashing of the two jutsu.

The Uzumaki pulled the arm with the Rasengan back while out stretching his other to ensure he passed into the earth instead of having the Rasengan explode in his face.

As the two attacks dissipated Mei looked around and noticed Naruto wasn't around before cursing and trying to jump away before finding out a clone was holding her legs in place. The original Naruto burst from the ground with a loud scream of Rasengan and crushed the ball of condensed chakra into Mei's stomach grinding against her clothing and stomach before the clone released her legs and she was sent flying away into a tree a few metres behind her.

Mei was not prepared for the impact and hit the back of her head against the tree knocking her out.

Naruto blinked owlishly not expecting that she would get knocked unconscious by that last move.

'Aw geez what the hell do I do now?' Asked Naruto aloud before giving an exasperated sigh and walking over to Mei before slinging her bloody right forearm over his shoulder and sweeping her feet from under her carrying her away bridal style.

'O-oh c-crap I shredded most of her clothing in the last attack.' Whispered Naruto while trying in vain to not look at Mei's upper body, her breasts only being hidden by a small amount of mesh and a little bit of her blue dress.

"Crap, crap, crap! I HAVE TO GET HER BACK TO HER TENT BEFORE SOMEONE SEES THIS!" Thought Naruto in worry with a slight blush on his face.

Naruto quickly hopped away in the direction of the main camp while stopping and hiding whenever someone was nearby, luckily they had been training for longer than usual thanks to the spar and it was now almost eight in the afternoon so not too many people were out and about thus allowing Naruto to get Mei back to her tent safely. He set her down on her bed and was just about to leave when the small amount of clothing hiding Mei's breasts from the world split revealing them for all to see. Her dark pink nipples glistening with sweat from their training while her large breasts bounced.

Naruto stood there in shock for five seconds before realising exactly what he was looking at before he developed a small blush before a large blush quickly replaced it and he was sent flying back with a bloody nose and a stupid grin.

Mei then chuckled and got up from the bed having been feigning unconsciousness for the past two minutes after waking up and finding herself in Naruto's arms and waiting for the perfect moment to "accidently" tear what remained of her clothing on her upper body.

Mei walked over to him and patted his face condescendingly.

'As I said you are still too young to tease me.' Mei said before noticing a small bulge in his pants.

'But I guess I'll just have to wait a bit longer until you are a challenge for me.' Said Mei with a slight giggle before giving him a kiss on the cheek on his whisker marks causing him to release a small purr.

"How cute." Thought Mei before walking off to get a new mesh shirt and change her now tattered dress.

"Although that was quite a surprise." Thought Mei as she stripped while going over their spar.

"He shows a good amount of mental flexibility being able to come up with many plans in the heat of battle even being able to surprise me twice. I highly doubt he is Genin rank and he must have surely been scorned and his potential limited by the Leaf." The green eyed brunette continued in thought while putting on her new mesh shirt before slipping on her blue dress.

"Oh well, there loss is our gain." Thought Mei before draping Naruto's left arm over her shoulder and using a body flicker to get him back to his tent. As she attempted to set him down on his bed something squeezed her left breast. Mei's head mechanically twitched until she was staring down at whatever had groped her and saw Naruto's left hand.

Mei seeing his stupid grin gained another bright idea and set him down and took off his shirt and pants along with his sandals before stripping herself of her dress, high heeled sandals and shin guards along with her mesh top leaving her in only her shorts and mesh leggings which reached down to just above mid thigh and over her knees respectively. She then got under his covers with him on his right and cuddled up against him.

Mei gave a small yawn, thanks to Naruto's growth spurt from his training with Oparu she was able to comfortably rest her head on his chest as they both more or less the same height.

'This feels nice.' Mumbled Mei before Naruto unknowingly pulled her closer.

'Yeah nice.' Said Mei before falling asleep.

_-line break-_

Naruto slowly opened his eyes the next morning and yawned. He went to stretch his arms but found his right arm was pinned down by something.

"Alright remain calm what was the last thing that happened yesterday." Thought Naruto before remembering he had passed out from a nose bleed.

'Darn didn't think I was a pervert, although I guess between Iruka, closet pervert Ebisu, porn reading Kakashi and the old man as well as self proclaimed Super Pervert Jiraiya writer of said porn and master peeper I was doomed to become a pervert.' Mumbled a disgruntled Naruto.

"Wait a minute! That still doesn't explain what is pinning my right arm down!" Thought Naruto before slowly turning his head to the side and seeing Mei there curled up against his chest sleeping peaceful.

While on the outside Naruto had a face of stone internally, "AHHH WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" he was very surprised.

Mei moved a little in her sleep and Naruto felt something amazingly soft along his bare chest.

"W-wait a minute, b-bare chest?" Thought Naruto in apprehension before lifting up the cover a little and seeing that he was topless but on top of that, "MEI IS TOPLESS IN MY BED!" Thought a greatly surprised and slightly worried Naruto.

"Ok now is the big moment, check you are still wearing pants." Thought Naruto calmly.

He slowly reached down and felt his two legs.

"Okay no pants but I still have underwear… why did I just feel a third leg?" Thought Naruto having brushed a smooth leg on his way back up.

"Is s-she naked?" Thought Naruto in confusion instead of apprehension now that the initial shock of waking up with Mei next to him had worn off.

Naruto raised the covers once again and received a view of Mei's hourglass figure and thankfully shorts and mesh pants.

"Oh man *phew* I do not want to be a dad at the age of fifteen. But wow she is absolutely perfect." Thought Naruto in awe going over Mei's figure in his mind.

"Now this brings up the more pressing matter, why is she in my bed almost naked?" Naruto pondered.

Naruto's musings stopped when he felt his right leg and hand become enveloped by a pair of warm mesh covered thighs.

"Aw screw it who cares I am going to savour this." Thought Naruto before wrapping Mei's body closer to him and going back to sleep.

Once Naruto had fallen asleep Mei opened up her left eye and looked at Naruto in surprise.

"Well he certainly got comfortable fast." Thought Mei in amusement before hugging onto Naruto again and following his example and going to sleep for another hour or so since it was only five in the morning.

_-line break-_

After that day Mei tried her best to have as much contact with Naruto as possible without arousing suspicion from any other parties doing things such as sneaking up on him and pressing her breasts on his back or "accidentally" falling on Naruto during spars or free time. Naruto enjoyed the contact but was a little confused about the rapid change in Mei.

_-line break-_

From some reason Jiraiya suddenly cried in anguish at the feeling of someone being oblivious to a hot woman's advances.

_-line break-_

Two weeks after the incident of Naruto knocking out Mei in their spar and somehow waking up with her the next day, another attack was planned on one of Yagura's main bases. The rebels main base was in the south so they planned to attack Yagura's stronghold to the south as it would give them access to the village itself. Yagura in total only had a total of eighteen bases; four in the classical north, east, west and south directions five kilometres away from the village itself, four more bases in the intersection of a diagonal path with any two of the four bases three kilometres away from each base each forming an isosceles triangle and lastly a ring made up of the other ten bases surrounding these bases forming a circle with a radius of ten kilometres. In total the rebels had taken out eight of these bases two on the eastern part of the ring one on the western part of the circle and the remaining five from the south, south-eastern and south-western part of the ring as well as the two bases which formed isosceles triangles. Thus the southern side now only had one base left between the rebels' main camp and the village, in which Yagura resided.

'This is rather risky Lady Mei we only have a couple hundred or so troops with us while Yagura has at least a few thousand, furthermore, he may be on to us given a majority of our attacks have been in the south.' Stated Ao.

Mei nodded deep in thought thinking about how to go about this.

'True you do make a good point out we really are being stretched thin however we have been successful so far and I do believe we can be so again, however at what cost?' Said Mei rhetorically.

'Well I just might have an idea although it is quite risky.' Chimed in Naruto who had been sitting off to the side, on a table, while Mei, Ao and a few other high ranking Jounin were discussing their plan of action.

'Oh do tell.' Said one of the Jounin apathetically.

One of the Jounin next to the one who had just spoken nudged him sharply with his elbow before speaking 'Hey you know it was only thanks to him that we were able to take the western base without any casualties on our part.'

'Well that aside I do have an idea which very well may end this war within the month.' Said Naruto drawing incredulous stares from all in the tent.

'Ridiculous this has been going on for five years and it has taken that long just to get this far, ending the war in a month. Preposterous!' Shouted Ameyuri Ringo one of the three remaining, living members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist before coughing a bit.

'Believe me it by no means will be easy, rather, it will be the most difficult battle of your life, however given our numbers and Yagura's forces recent movements it is the best course of action to bring about a decisive finish.' Said Naruto firmly.

'What is this plan of yours?' Asked Ao staring at Naruto intensely.

'I will lead a small contingent of troops around Yagura's bases until we arrive near his northern bases. We will take the base and allow a few survivors to report back that the leader of the alliance and the last remnants of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist attacked.' Said Naruto before he was cut off by incredulous shouting.

'Lady Mei surely you can't be thinking of going along with this, it is a death trap.' Stated the same Jounin who had spoken apathetically before.

'That is enough Hiroshi, I thank you for your concern but I haven't even agreed to the plan yet.' Said Mei with her trademark smile causing Ao to back off unconsciously.

'In any case I never said Mei herself would carry out the attack did I?' Questioned Naruto rhetorically.

'Huh?' Replied back Hiroshi unintelligently.

Naruto sighed before quickly making the signs for a transformation jutsu. Once the smoke had cleared an exact replica of Mei was staring at them.

'A transformation won't fool anyone for long.' Criticised Ao.

'Ao shut up or I'll kill you.' Said Naruto once again causing Ao to take a step back.

'You see my transformation technique is special, I can only attribute it to having a being known for its transformation and shape shifting ability inside me, but my transformations are solid not illusions.' Said Naruto in Mei's voice.

'I-incredible.' Said Misaki, the Jounin who had nudged Hiroshi before.

'Furthermore if I have chakra and do not want to be knocked out of the transformation I can't be.' Said Naruto.

'Lastly since I too have Boil and Lava style bloodlines I am the only one able to perfectly trick the enemy into believing I am truly Mei.' Said Naruto before ending the transformation.

'Why the need for Chojuro and Ameyuri?' Asked Mei curiously.

'It is only logical the leader has some of her strongest with her. While Ao is also an option no leader would ever take all their strongest warriors alone. Hence Ao staying with you ensures they don't catch on to the ruse.' Explained Naruto.

'What makes you think you can take out their base all by yourself, we had to fight tooth and nail to get even this far?' Asked Ameyuri.

'Well my Ninjutsu prowess aside I have the ability to literally create and army, so if you are worried about numbers don't.' Said Naruto flatly.

'It does sound risky, but that aside, how can you taking that base end the war?' Asked Misaki.

'Simple we do not have numbers on our side as despite the fact that I could produce hundreds of clones they have thousands of ninja, not to mention the one hit dispersion side effect of Shadow Clones. Although there has been a simple plan which has worked numerous times in the past.' Said Naruto while pausing.

'Which is?' Asked Ao.

'Oh but a pincer of course, countless massive forces have been taken out by much smaller ones thanks to a pincer. So I lead an attack from the north disguised as Mei, Yagura sends the majority of his forces north and the rest of you can pincer him from the south, blocking him off from two sides.' Finished Naruto with a self satisfied grin.

Naruto walked back to the table he had previously been sitting on and proceeded to lay down on it with his eyes closed. After some discussion and deliberation among the others they came to an agreement that Naruto's plan just might work.

'Alright Naruto we will go with your suggested plan of attack.' Said Mei causing Naruto to sit up quickly and head off.

'Cool Ameyuri you let Chojuro know and gather any reliable ninja you know, no more than five and tell them to be ready to head out at four tomorrow morning.' Said Naruto before leaving the tent and going to take a nap.

'Man that guy is frustrating.' Muttered Ameyuri causing the others to chuckle.

'Yeah and now you get to spend around a month stuck with him and only six other people.' Laughed Mei.

'To think that I'm staving off my illness just to spend more time with him, oh joy.' Sighed Ameyuri.

'Well I guess it could be worse, he could've been a loudmouth brat with no skill. At least he is a decent ninja.' Said the swordswoman before heading off to assemble her team.


End file.
